1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to evaporator apparatus, and is concerned with eliminating entrained droplets of liquid from vapor generated in an evaporator.
2. State of the Art
Evaporators are used in various industrial applications (e.g., sugar processing, paper manufacturing, chemical production and mineral extraction) to recover valuable constituents in waste liquors by removing water in the form of vapor from the liquors. Industrial evaporators typically include separator devices for eliminating liquid droplets that become entrained in the vapor generated by the evaporation process.
A discussion of various louver-type droplet separators can be found in an article by H. Chilton entitled "Elimination of Carryover From Packed Towers With Special Reference To Natural Draught Water Cooling Towers," published in Transactions of the Institution of Chemical Engineers, Volume 30, (1952), pages 235-251. Droplet separators are also described the in U.S. patent literature, e.g., in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,070,937; 3,338,035; and 3,527,030.
In practice, vanes used in the prior art as droplet separators for industrial evaporators have been arranged in ensembles of generally rectangular configuration, because separator manufacturers have utilized vane ensembles of the kind designed primarily for mounting in rectangularly configured orifices of air flow ducts of air conditioning systems. In the prior art, the spacing between adjacent vanes has generally been constant along the vapor flow path in droplet separators for industrial evaporators.